Purple Flag

Purple Flag is a national accreditation which recognises towns and cities with great hospitality and entertainment areas at night. Places which achieve this gold standard offer a positive and well-managed experience to night-time visitors.

Colchester Borough Council led a private, public and third sector group through a rigorous process in 2011/12 to achieve Purple Flag accreditation which was granted in July 2013 and granted again in 2014 after a ‘light touch’ reassessment. February 2016 saw the town centre gain its third year of accreditation following a full assessment in 2015.

Key Achievements in the last 3 years:

Compared with 2012/13 crime has reduced and public order improved

Care services (such as the SOS Bus) have been sustained, developed & improved

Firmer, more joined up approach to Licensing culminating in a new Licensing Policy introduced in 2016

Key ambitions for the next 3 years:

New Taxi Licensing Policy (currently under review)

Continue to diversify the offer and

Encourage a wider audience of people to come into town after dark in order to grow the economic impact of the ENTE and employment opportunities for local people

Upcoming Events

Slavery is not merely a historical relic. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) more than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery. Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. Essentially, it refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.

In addition, more than 150 million children are subject to child labour, accounting for almost one in ten children around the world.

Facts and figures: An estimated 40.3 million people are in modern slavery, including 24.9 in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriage. There are 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world. 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children. Out of the 24.9 million people trapped in forced labour, 16 million people are exploited in the private sector such as domestic work, construction or agriculture; 4.8 million people in forced sexual exploitation, and 4 million people in forced labour imposed by state authorities. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labour, accounting for 99% of victims in the commercial sex industry, and 58% in other sectors. ILO has adopted a new legally binding Protocol designed to strengthen global efforts to eliminate forced labour, which entered into force in November 2016.

The 50 for Freedom campaign aims to persuade at least 50 countries to ratify the Forced Labour Protocol by 2018.